Waste receptacle



United States Patent 3,270,938 WASTE RECEPTACLE Floyd P. Rhinegold, 338SW. 17th St., Richmond, Ind. Filed Oct. 5, 1964, Ser. No. 401,462 7Claims. (Cl. 229-7) The present invention relates to waste containers;and more particularly, to a waste receptacle attachment for aconventional tissue box. In many instances, tissues are used in thevicinity of the tissue box. The close relationship between the place atwhich the tissues are used and the place of the tissue box is especiallyprevalent when a tissue box is mounted in an automobile, on a nightstand, near a sick bed or in other positions within reach of persons whoare not likely to move away from the tissue box during or after using atissue. Whenever a tissue box is located in such a position, therearises a need for a convenient place to put used tissues. If such aplace is not convenient, litter may collect which is unsightly and whichmay aid in the communication of germs from one person to another.Further, in many instances, a waste receptacle attached to the tissuebox, itself, would be highly convenient. Still further, whenever tissuesare used by persons having communicable diseases, it is highlyconvenient to have an inexpensive waste receptacle for used tissues thatcan be burned or otherwise destroyed without having to remove thetissues. It is therefore desirable to provide a waste receptacleattachment for a tissue box that can be inexpensively manufactured.

For ultimate convenience, any such waste receptacle should have acapacity to hold at least the number of tissues contained in aconventional tissue box after they are used. However, such anarrangement should not take up an undue amount of space. Therefore it isfurther desirable that any waste receptacle attachment to a tissue boxbe expansible so that its volume can vary as needed, thereby conservingspace and having a total capacity of used tissues so that the wastereceptacle can accommodate all of the tissues held by a conventionaltissue box.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an expansiblewaste receptacle attachment for a conventional tissue box.

It is another object of this invention to provide a relativelyinexpensive waste receptacle for tissues that can be destroyed with thetissues, thereby eliminating the handling of used tissues.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a waste receptaclethat is always conveniently located to a tissue box.

It is still further an object of this invention to provide a combinationtissue dispenser and waste receptacle that can be conveniently usedwherever conventional tissue boxes are now useful.

In accordance with the broader aspects of this invention, there isprovided a combination tissue dispenser and waste receptacle comprisinga conventional tissue box and an attached expansible box ofapproximately the same size.

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention andthe manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the inventionitself will be best understood by reference to the following descriptionof an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a conventional tissue box having the expansiblewaste receptacle, of this invention, attached thereto illustrating itsfully collapsed position in dotted lines and its fully extended positionin solid lines;

3,27%,938 Patented Sept. 6, 1966 "ice FIG. 2 is an end view of theconventional tissue box and waste receptacle illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a conventional tissue box and a secondembodiment of the expansible waste receptacle of this invention,illustrated in-its fully extended position;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the conventional tissue box and wastereceptacle shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an end view of the conventional tissue box and wastereceptacle shown in FIG. 3 illustrated in its fully extended position.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a conventional tissue box 10having ends 12, 14 and sides 16, 18 and attached thereto a wastereceptacle 20. Centrally located in the top 22 of the tissue box 10 isan elongated slot 24 from which tissues in the box are conventionallydispensed. Waste receptacle 26 is rectangular in cross-section and hastwo upstanding sides 26, 28, a bottom 30, an end 32, and a cover 34.Sides 26, 28 and end 32 all have a height equal to that of aconventional tissue box; and are connected in edge-to-edge relationshipto each other and to bottom 30 and to cover 34 so as to form a boxhaving the same height. Cover 34 has the same length as end 32; but hasa width that is only a fraction of the dimension of the bottom 30 whichis measured parallel to said width. By attaching cover 34 to sides 26,28 and end 32 so that one longitudinal edge 41 of cover 34 is secured toend 32, a rectangular access opening 36 is provided in the cover 34. Aportion 38, 40 of sides 26, 28, respectively, and a portion 42 of bottom30 are superposed on ends 12, 14 and bottom 43 of tissue box 10 toprovide a means for attaching the waste receptacle 20t0 the tissue box10. By means of such attachment, the side 18 of the tissue box 10provides a second end for the waste receptacle, thereby providing aclosure excepting for the access opening 36, and provides a boundarywhich defines the size of the access opening 36 along with sides 26, 28and longitudinal edge 46 of cover 34. End 32 of waste receptacle 20 hasdimensions substantially equal with the dimensions of side 18, of tissuebox 10, thereby providing that the combination of the receptacle 20 andthe tissue box 18 have a dimension identical to the tissue box 10 in onedirection. But since used tissues cannot be stored as compactly asunused tissues, sides 26, 28 of receptacle 2!) must have areassubstantially larger than the areas of ends 12, 14 and thereby providereceptacle 2% with a substantially larger volume than the tissue box 10,if the volume of the receptacle 20 is to be of such a magnitude that allof the tissues contained in the tissue box 10 may be stored after theyare used.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2, one embodiment of the wastereceptacle 20 of this invention is shown to be attached to the tissuebox by means of the wall portions 38, 40 and the portion 42 of bottom 30in a manner such that the tissue box 10 may telescope into the wastereceptacle 20 as indicated by the arrow 44. This telescoping of tissuebox 10 provides the waste receptacle 20 with a volume that can be variedas needed. In a specific construction of this first embodiment of thisinvention, sides 26, 28 of waste box 20 have areas and dimensions equalto ends 12, 14 of tissue box 10. Tissue box 10, in this construction,can then be telescoped into waste box 20, so that the tissue box-wastebox combination in collapsed position has substantially the same size astissue box 10. When tissue box 10 is first opened, tissue 'box 10 may betelescoped into waste receptacle 20 to a first position 106 (dottedlines, FIGS. 1 and 2) so as to leave only a narrow access opening 36.Tissue box 10 can then be maintained in that position until that volumeof waste receptacle 20 is completely filled. Then, tissue box 10 can bemoved progressively to the left and out of waste receptacle 20, therebyproviding more room for more used tissues. By this provision, thecombination tissue box 10 and waste receptacle 20 uses only that amountof ledge or counter space that is absolutely needed.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, another embodiment ofthe Waste receptacle 20, numbered 20a, is shown to be fixedly attachedto tissue box 10 by means of wall portions 380, 40a and portion 42a ofbottom 300. Such attachment can be by adhesive, or other such means.This second embodiment of the waste receptacle 20 has sides 26a, 28a,bottom 30a and cover 34a accordian folded, In this embodiment, wastereceptacle 20a is preferably made of oil treated paper having physicalproperties such that the accordian folds provide resiliency to the wastereceptacle 20a and an-at-rest empty or collapsed position that has lessvolume than the tissue box 10. By this means, this second embodiment ofthe waste receptacle 20 functions in the same manner as the firstembodiment, in that the volume of the waste receptacle 20a is initiallysmall and is progressively expansible to hold all of the tissuescontained in tissue box 10 after they are used.

Receptacle 20a is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in its approximatefully-extended position and in FIG. in its approximate fully-collapsedposition. These figures correspond to FIGS. 1 and 2 in which thereceptacle 20 is shown in its fully-extended position in solid lines,and in its fully-collapsed position 106 in dotted lines.

In a specific embodiment, receptacle 20 is made of stiff cardboard orpressed paper. However, receptacle 20 can be made from any inexpensiveand self-supporting material. Waste receptacle 20a is preferably made ofoil paper that has the aforementioned resiliency characteristics when itis accordian folded. However, receptacle 20a can be made of any materialthat is inexpensive and self-supporting having the same resiliencycharacteristics.

While there have been described above the principles of this inventionin connection with specific ap-- paratus, it is to be clearly understoodthat this description is made only by way of example and not as alimitation to the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination tissue dispenser and waste receptacle comprising arectangular waste box having two upstanding sides, a bottom, an end anda cover, said sides and said end being of equal height, said waste boxbeing of rectangular cross-section, said cover and said end being ofequal length, said cover having a width equal to a. fraction of thedimension of said bottom measured in a direction parallel to said width,thereby providing for a rectangular waste box having an access openingin said cover and an open end, and a tissue box having second ends,bottom and sides, said sides and said bot-tom of said waste box hav ingperipheral portion adjacent said open end adapted to fit over a portionof said second ends and bottom of said tissue box to receive said tissuebox therebetween thereby securing said waste box to said tissue box andbounding said waste box and said access opening, said waste box and saidtissue box being equal in height, said end of said waste box being equalin length and area with said sides of said tissue box, said waste boxhaving means for selectively collapsing said waste box.

onto said tissue box and thereby varying the volume of said waste box.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means comprises said sidesand bottom of said waste box being selectively and slideably superposedover said second ends and bot-tom of said tissue box, thereby toselectively telescope said tissue box into said waste box.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means comprises accordianfolds in said sides, cover and bottom of said waste box, therebyproviding said waste box with a collapsed position and a fully-extendedposition, said sides, cover and bottom being resiliently urged into saidcollapsed position.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sides of said waste box arelarger in area than said second ends of said tissue box.

5. A combination tissue dispenser and waste receptacle comprising awaste box having two upstanding sides, a bottom, an end and a cover,said cover having an access opening therein, and a tissue box havingseconds ends, bottom and sides, said sides and said bottom of said wastebox having peripheral portions adjacent said open end adapted to fitover a portion of said second ends and bot-tom of said tissue box toreceive said tissue 'box therebetween thereby securing said waste box tosaid tissue box and bounding said waste box and access opening, saidWaste box sides, cover and bottom having folds therein, whereby saidwaste box is collapsible onto said tissue box into a position in whichsaid waste box end is adjacent to one of said second tissue box sides.

6. A combination tissue dispenser and waste receptacle comprising a boxhaving two upstanding sides, a bottom, two upstanding ends and a cover,said sides and said ends being of equal height, said 'box being ofrectangular cross-section, said box having an upstanding partitionsecured to said bottom, cover, and sides, between said ends, saidpartition dividing said box into two enclosed portions, said coverhaving two access openings therein, said access openings communicatingwith said portions, respectively, one of said portions being collapsibleagainst said partition, thereby providing said box with a collapsedvolume equal to the volume of the other of said portions.

7. A waste receptacle comprising a rectangular Waste box having twoupstanding sides, a bottom, an end and a top cover, said sides and saidends being of equal height, said waste box being of rectangularcross-section, said cover and said end being of equal length, said coverhaving a width equal to a fraction of the dimension of said bottommeasured in a direction parallel to said width, said cover beingfastened to both said sides and said end, said sides, cover and bottomhaving accordion folds therein and being resiliently urged intocollapsed position thereby providing a rectangular waste box having anaccess opening in said cover and an open end with a collapsed positionand a fullyextended position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,281,255 10/1918Vogel 22941 1,811,574 6/1931 Barrett. 1,988,939 1/1935 Craig 22l342,732,935 1/1956 Gui 20657 2,747,380 5/1056 Ridnour 229-41 X 2,841,2757/1958 Schwimmer et al. 206-57 3,033,362 5/1962 Marcalus 20657 FOREIGNPATENTS 464,373 4/1937 Great Britain.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner.

1. A COMBINATION TISSUE DISPENSER AND WASTE RECEPTACLE COMPRISING ARECTANGULAR WASTE BOX HAVING TWO UPSTANDING SIDES, A BOTTOM, AN END ANDA COVER, SAID SIDES AND SAID END BEING OF EQUAL HEIGHT, SAID WASTE BOXBEING OF RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION, SAID COVER AND SAID END BEING OFEQUAL LENGTH, SAID COVER HAVING A WIDTH EQUAL TO A FRACTION OF THEDIMENSION OF SAID BOTTOM MEASURED IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO SAID WIDTH,THEREBY PROVIDING FOR A RECTANGULAR WASTE BOX HAVING AN ACCESS OPENINGIN SAID COVER AND AN OPEN END, AND A TISSUE BOX HAVING SECOND ENDS,BOTTOM AND SIDES, SAID SIDES AND SAID BOTTOM OF SAID WASTE BOX HAVINGPERIPHERAL PORTION ADJACENT SAID OPEN END ADAPTED TO FIT OVER A PORTIONOF SAID SECOND ENDS AND BOTTOM OF SAID TISSUE BOX TO RECEIVE SAID TISSUEBOX THEREBETWEEN THEREBY SECURING SAID WASTE BOX TO SAID TISSUE BOX ANDBOUNDING SAID WASTE BOX AND SAID ACCESS OPENING, SAID WASTE BOX AND SAIDTISSUE BOX BEING EQUAL IN HEIGHT, SAID END OF SAID WASTE BOX BEING EQUALIN LENGTH AND AREA WITH SAID SIDES OF SAID TISSUE BOX, SAID WASTE BOXHAVING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY COLLAPSING SAID WASTE BOX ONTO SAID TISSUEBOX AND THEREBY VARYING THE VOLUME OF SAID WASTE BOX.